Grumpy time!

I gave Salt Creek one last hoorah this afternoon. We are moving to Logan and I start school Monday. It was four o'clock when I hit the stream and fairly overcast. It was hot as hades and there were a lot of stinky sheep stomping around in some of my favorite holes :( I went down below and was feelin' an itch to throw a new foam beetle pattern that I had recently tied up. I threw on a rainbow warrior dropper just for good measure about 18 inches below Mr. beetle. As I entered the stream, I sat for a minute or two, looking upstream for some risers. After a spell of NADA, I casted upstream and realized it was A LOT harder to see a size 16 black beetle than the fatty foam hopper I had been fishing. I finally picked it out floating in the surface film. Right as my eyes focused on it........ it shot under the water. FISH ON! The rainbow warrior did the trick for the next several minutes and before I knew it I had 6 fish and 8 takes! Not bad considering I usually miss most of the first few takes of any given fishing trip. Anyways, keeping an accurate take-count vs. fish-count was a priority today. I decided to switch to a Grumpy Frumpy because nothing was really looking up at the beetle. I waded slowly upstream noticing how the fish seemed to care less about the sheep glurping the clear water only feet away. (I oughta market some sheep camo for fly fishermen). About the same time, I spotted a nice fish under a mossy shelf. I watched him for a couple minutes as he casually moved back and forth, sipping unseen bugs subsurface. I check casted about 4 feet to his right to measure my distance. Unexpectedly, the fish shot out from under the bank and speedily attacked the Grumpy! I was so surprised that I set the hook like Arnold Schwarzenegger and broke off my flies. ARRRRRGHHHH! I HATE IT WHEN I DO THAT! After a speedy re-rig, I began casting again. For the next few minutes I had to whisper to myself with every cast and drift, "Lift the rod easy, lift the rod easy, lift the rod easy......" Within 5 yards of the lost-rig-fish, I set the hook on a nice little bow that fell for the rainbow warrior. He jumped twice then ran down river right between my legs! This can be problematic as those who have experienced it can testify. The fish luckily got tangled in some moss or I probably would have lost him. He ended up being a smaller fish than I initially thought. Rainbows seem to pull and put up more exceptional fights as opposed to browns. As I continued upstream, I spotted another little brownie sunning at the tail end of a calm, clear pool. My cast was pro-like (yes I'm bragging) and the grumpy passed UN-noticed by Goldie. The bead however couldn't be passed up. I saw the white of the fish's mouth as he sipped. WHAM! Fish on! He ended up being better than I thought and the coolest part of all was the sweet take he allowed me to watch :) I love sight fishing. Anyways, I had a couple similar takes and a wonderful day. I actually kept a great tally, ending the 1 hour and 50 minute trip with 23 takes and 16 fish. A solid day. Not anything like psychosity, but that's another story...........Still smilin'.............